My suggestion for a holiday cocktail: Pass on it and grab a whiskey instead!

Disclaimer: I'm biased. I really like whiskey and I think cocktails are for chumps.

Ok, I don't really think that cocktail drinkers are chumps. They’re misguided perhaps, but they're not chumps. I do, however, think that reaching for a cocktail is an easy option for people not accustomed to beverages of a higher alcohol content. If you're more accustomed to alcoholic beverages in say the 4.5-13%ABV range, whiskey admittedly can be a bit of a shock to the system. However, in an attempt to avoid alcohol prickliness on the nose and palate, these people miss-out on the exquisite scent and taste symphony that can also be experienced from a great whiskey. Hopefully this post can help you expand your taste preferences to make sure you don't miss out on a thing.

Let me assure you, you're not alone in the desire for taste-free alcohol. Vodka, the most popular booze in cocktails, is popular and expensive vodka (the least flavourful type) is most popular, largely for its very ability to invisibly give a yummy fruit drink an alcoholic kick. But I'm here to tell you of another more satisfying path that you can follow young Skyscraper Walker. I'm talking of course about the hypnotic and enticing powers of the dark spirit side of the alcohol industry force.

Fear not, as there are no big mistakes to be made in this taste experiment. After-all, we are just talking about beverages, so take a few deep breaths and relax. To start with, be sure the whiskey is going into a glass roughly tulip shaped (think brandy snifter), where the mouth of the glass is narrower than the glass' bulbous middle. This type of glass best allows you to twirl the spirit in it, helping to liberate and then concentrate whiskey’s scent molecules for you to enjoy. Now go ahead...twirl and sniff.

Next, take a small sip of whiskey and swish it around your mouth a bit before you swallow it. Now close your mouth and slowly breathe out through your nose to enjoy the lingering scent finish that many whiskeys possess. How was the experience? Was it too strong for you? No problem, as you can always make a spirit less "boozy" by simply adding room temperature still water to it. Start small, by adding 8-12 DROPS of water (per ounce portion of whiskey) at time, with a bar straw if it helps, until you feel only slightly challenged by its strength. After all, you won’t expand your comfort zone by watering it down to the strength of beer. Now repeat until the glass is empty and reassess.

A note about ice: As this is not an advanced whiskey appreciation piece, I'd say, if you want ice, add ice. But I would do so as a last resort, after first trying whiskey at room temperature and then by cooling it in the fridge (not freezer, what are you, a barbarian?).

Here then is a great (but by no means exhaustive) listing of some world whiskeys recommendations that would be good at bridging the move from cocktails to whiskey and all for under $90 at the LCBO:

• Michter's Small Batch Bourbon
• Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon
• Writers Tears Pot Still Irish Whiskey
• Greenore 8 Years Old Single Grain Irish Whiskey
• Alberta Premium, Dark Horse Whisky
• Gooderham & Worts Canadian Whisky
• Forty Creek Copper Pot Reserve
• Glenfiddich Single Malt 15 Years Old, Solara Reserve
• Benriach 10 Year Old, Single Malt Scotch
• Auchentoshan American Oak
• The Botanist Islay Dry Gin (I know, not a whiskey, but made by Bruichladdich, a Scotch Distillery and fantastic on its own as well)